Last night we went to Home Depot and bought trees. One Palo Verde and one Chilean Mesquite. Both are members of the Legume family and thrive in our poor desert soils without to much fuss. Today Peter and I spent about 3-4 hours outside digging two large holes, amending the soil and planting these two beauties along with attempting to till the area by the front door for the herb garden. The Palo Verde which gets yellow flowers on it in the Spring has green bark and tend to be multi-trunked. We put that one up closer to the house (Its about 15 feet from the house, at least 15 feet from the walkway and 20 feet from the driveway), and the Mesquite went to the Northeast corner of the front yard down in an area where water collects in rainstorms and about 15-20 feet in from the road. Its also a good 30-40 feet away from the Septic area which is uphill from the tree. Both trees will get canopies on them in the 20-25 ft wide range, and will not impede on the house where they are planted but will provide some shade and protection. I plan on laying down some gravel and putting in a sitting area between the Palo Verde and the house. Digging these holes was a lesson in patience. Took another trip to Home Depot this morning and got a digging bar. If you have ever had to dig into rock hard soil you will know the benefit of these things. They weigh about 30 lbs, but they power through hard soil. Each hole was dug about three feet wide and three feet deep, so we needed something that could get through the rock, clay, sand and silt mixture they call soil here. Took a second trip to Home Depot this afternoon and got mulch to help hold the moisture in the soil till these trees get established and to get the tree supports and tie backs. Once these trees are established their water needs are minimal since a Palo Verde is a native tree to this part of the world, and mesquite trees are also Native to the desert. So our landscaping is slowly, piece by piece taking shape... Just waiting on hearing back from our wall guy when he wants to meet with us and the neighbors to solidify wall plans, and to see where we are in the permitting process with Maricopa County.
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 22:23:18 +0000
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